Time Wolf
by MorningStar1101
Summary: "One arrow at a time" That is how Melana Fen takes her enemies. When she appears in Kirkwall, Fenris wonders at this elf, who has stepped straight of a Dalish myth. How will he react to someone as lost as he is? Currently on hiatus until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first official fanfic, constructive critisism is welcomed with open arms. This will be continued if enough people show intrest.

The elvish that is in this is what i've been able to piece together from the Dragon Age wiki, please let me know if you feel some of it isn't right.

* * *

><p>"Fenris?"<p>

"What mage?"

Merrill barely blinked at his harsh tone, being used to it by now, but pointed towards the distant rooftops.

"Do you see that?" she asked.

Fenris studied the area she was pointing to and saw the vague outline of a person in the failing light. Just as he was about to reply to the blood mage, the figure disappeared. Fenris frowned as he tried to work out what he had just seen.

He glanced towards the door that he and Merrill were standing guard for. They were waiting for Hawke and Varric, who were conducting business with a noble who had hired them. When he looked forward again, the shape on the rooftops was back and closer than before.

Merrill and Fenris were so focused on the figure in the distance that they didn't see the Carta assassins coming towards them until it was too late.

Fenris turned to see a blade coming towards his head and was able to block it, barely. Merrill had been hit in the shoulder, just managing to twist out the blades original path of her heart. Being caught off guard, both elves struggled to fend off the blows being rained upon them.

A low hiss and several small thunks were heard then nothing as the Carta assassins dropped dead, each with an arrow protruding from their bodies.

Fenris looked around, confirmed he was in no immediate danger and dropped to the ground, his heart racing. Merrill did the same thing on his right, sliding down the wall, staff falling from her hands. Fenris then realised that the arrows must have come from somewhere and looked up to see who their saviour was, meeting a pair of emerald green eyes.

Their body was covered in a full length, black cloak and hood, only their eyes were visible in the rapidly fading light. From the slim build and grace in which they walked, Fenris concluded that they were an elf.

Fenris stood up once more and held his weapon ready, "Come no closer, stranger."

The cloaked figure stopped and tilted their head slightly in curiosity.

"I'm not here to cause anyone harm." The voice was female, she looked towards the Carta members she had just slain and said "I'll rephrase that, I'm not here to harm you, _Hamin_."

Fenris reluctantly sheathed his weapon and said "Who are you?"

The elf lowered her hood and smiled warmly.

It was at this time that Hawke chose to exit the building, Varric following with Bianca, and come face to face with a mob of dead Carta assassins and a smiling elf. Not what she envisioned when she heard the commotion outside. She had thought that Fenris and Merrill had been overwhelmed and had come running, daggers drawn.  
>Now she lowered them slightly at the scene around her, observing the arrows in each of the bodies.<p>

"What the hell happened here?" she asked incredulously, when she received no answer she asked again, "Fenris? Merrill? What happened?"

Again, no answer.

The elf stepped forward a little and Fenris was on his guard in an instant, keeping a trained eye on the unknown helper.

"I think I can shed some light on this subject." She said, "I was following the Carta you see and followed them on their way here, so when they started attacking these two, I intervened. I'm sorry if I caused any trouble."

Hawke was taken aback, surprised at the kindness in her voice, then mentally shook herself and got back to the person at hand.

"How did you fell all these dwarves?" Hawke looked closer at the corpses around her. Each body had only one arrow, lodged either in their heart or their skull, an instant and clean kill.

The elf's smile grew bigger while she held up one finger and replied, "One arrow at a time."

Fenris relaxed once he knew that there would be no more bloodshed, at least for the moment, and studied the elf that stood before him, all happy and smiles in a sea of blood and death.

She was just a bit shorter than him, about the height of his chin, and had the grace and poise of any other elf. Her long black hair was in a neat braid that was pulled over her right shoulder and she was dressed in a long black cloak. But what got to Fenris were her eyes, they were cunning, deceitful and lucid, but there was also a haunting look, like she has seen too much.

He stepped forward as Hawke sheathed her blades, and asked, "I'll ask my earlier question. Who are you?"

The elf backed away and pulled up her hood, "I am the one our people call Melana Fen."

With that, she disappeared.

* * *

><p>"Are you saying that she is a myth?" Hawke's tone was disbelieving.<p>

Merrill nodded her head, "Well she is only talked about by the clans, no one has ever seen her before that's all. She is said to be the only constant in a sea of change and time."

Hawke sighed, she didn't need this. She was too busy from keeping Kirkwall from a mage uprising, she didn't need something out of a Dalish myth to turn up and mess around. Merrill was still talking, telling the story of Melana Fen, the Time Wolf.

"They say she was born to humans parents and that the father was so angry at his wife, thinking she had cheated on her with one of their elf servants, he cast them both out. The mother had barley gotten her new born child to the nearest clan, when she died of grief. The clan, angry at what had happened to the child's mother, went and killed her husband, for casting her out. The keeper believed that the girl should be brought up as though these events had never happened, and kept the child's birth a secret. As the child grew, she took to the bow like a duck to water and became the best archer the Dalish had ever seen and when she was old enough, received a dragon bone bow from the Keeper. She was the happiest she had ever been, until the day when she overheard one of the clan talking about how, even though her parents were gone, she had grown up so well, and so happy. That is when she died. Grief stricken over the truth of her parents and her clan's deceit, she flew into a terrifying rage and killed the Keeper. After her rage abated, she finally let herself go, lying down beside the corpse of the Keeper, and slept."

Merrill finished her story and looked at the faces around her, their eyes glued to her, shocked and slightly disbelieving.

Fenris added one piece of information to the story, "They say that when she woke, the clan had turned to ashes around her, but not a single minute had gone by."

Hawke shook her head, "So where does the wolf bit come from?"

"Because it was the Dread Wolf that found me and became my only companion."


	2. Chapter 2

next part, thanks to my first reviewer Dhallhenn

* * *

><p>The voice was oddly familiar.<p>

Hawke and the others turned around to find that Melana Fen was behind them.  
>"How did you get in here?" Hawke asked, surprised that she found her way through the patrol around her house.<p>

Melana Fen just shrugged, removed her cloak and hung it up, also leaving her bow and quiver of arrows with it as well. But she kept her dagger on her, Fenris noted.

"Melana Fen, It is an honour." Merrill said.

"Please just call me Mel, my full name is such a mouthful in conversation." Mel said. She walked over and seated herself by the fire, staring into the flames for a moment before speaking again, "You have my condolences Hawke, Lady Amell was a wonderful woman, and she has such a strong daughter."

Hawke's expression changed from one of surprise to that of sadness. "How did you know about my mother?"

Mel sighed, it was a lonely sound, one that comes from a person who has too much weight on their shoulders, and it is one that Hawke has shed on one too many occasions.

"I remember when you were born, and your brother and sister as well. I was in Lothering for a time, and came across your family. I moved on quickly though, for I was jealous of your family and the love that was there." Mel replied, still staring into the fire.

"Why are you here? In Kirkwall I mean, what drew you to this place?" Hawke wondered, seating herself across from Mel.

"Sadness, death, pain and loss. I go where the sorrow is; I'm just naturally drawn to it."

"It is because of what happened to your family?" Merrill blurted. Mel turned to look at her, her gaze darkened and turned cold.

"You are Dalish; you should know never to ask that." Mel stated. Her familiar, happy tone had turned as cold as ice. Merrill backed away a step, frightened by the sudden change in character. She gathered her things and left the Hawke mansion, leaving only Hawke, Varric, Fenris and Mel.

"So the legend is true?" Varric asked his first words all night.

Mel nodded, her normal demeanour slowly coming back. "Mostly," She said, "Well more like all of it, what you blood mage friend said is all true."

All gazes were suddenly locked onto her. Fenris dared to speak "How did you know she was a blood mage?"

"She was the first of Keeper Merethari, I wondered with her clan a while ago, though it was under a different name. All keepers know a bit of old magic, though I wouldn't condone it, such a horrid practise." Mel shuddered at the thought.

Hawke asked the question that she has wanted to know all night "If you're the time wolf, can you travel through time?"

Mel nodded, "In a way, I travel through personal pasts, and delve into memories mainly but in a way I can travel through time."

"But what if don't have many memories, what if at a certain point in your past there is no more?" Fenris asked, drawn closer to the elf by the fire. Mel turned her gaze on him and Fenris mentally flinched, expecting a cold glare as Merrill got before, but what he found was sorrow. A deep pain and understanding lay there and Fenris' heart cried out.

After a moment of silence, Mel replied "Just because the memory may not be there does not mean that it doesn't exist. It's still there." She touched her forehead in emphasis, "Just hidden or buried, covered in regret or sadness or pain that is so overwhelming it wipes everything."

Fenris was shocked by the amount of knowledge that she had, and how close to his heart she was hitting without knowing. He couldn't take it, so he left.

If he had looked back as he left, he would have seen how much it hurt her to say it.

* * *

><p>Just a short update, suffering from severe writers block (any ideas would be welcome)<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

I felt bad for posting such a small part in my story and I got on a role today, so I felt I needed to publish the next part. Thankyou to all who have favourited, reviewed etc etc..

* * *

><p>Mel rented a room at the Hanged Man, not wanting to impose on Hawke and her generous hospitality. After a while, Varric began calling her Little Fen, which Fenris scowled at every time he heard it, and began excusing himself from the group when it was spoken. Mel had no idea why he was doing this and began to think that he didn't like her, she tried to ignore the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach, but there was something there that she needed to know and she knew it was going to involve time travel.<p>

Fenris was in Denarius' mansion as always but this time his mood was darker than usual, pacing back and forth, he was thinking about the events that had happened in the last few weeks. Varric had begun calling the new elf, Little Fen, or in the common tongue, Little Wolf, which used to be Denarius' pet name for him. It angered and saddened him for it kept reminding him of the life that he had run from, the life that was still chasing him, hunting him.

Fenris spun round at a knock as his door, and he walked to it, wondering who would visit him of all people.

The door revealed none other than Melana Fen herself and Fenris' mood darkened a few more notches, he wasn't angry with her, just with what she had stirred up, not only within the group but within himself.

"What do you want?" his tone was a little bit harsher than he intended, but Mel didn't even flinch.

"We need to talk." She said, she gestured inside, "May I come in?"

Fenris stood aside as she walked in and showed her to the 'lounge' room and stoked the fire to get it going again.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked, still facing the fire.

Mel sat down on a bench and began warming her cold hands with the heat.

"Your past." Was all she said.

Fenris outwardly flinched at the thought; he believed his past was behind him, at least for the moment.

"My past is hunting me at this very moment; I do not wish to be reminded of it." He said through clenched teeth. He turned to face her, finding her already looking at him, studying him. There was no malice in her gaze, no bitterness, no judgment, just a curiosity and an understanding that Fenris had never received before.

"Why must you ask about my past?" He asked wearily.

"Because I know something is there, something you can't remember, something you _want_ to remember." She said.

Fenris outright stared at her. "How do you know?"

"You asked about it when I was talking about how I time travelled. Your memories are still there Fenris, I can help you find them again, but only if you let me."

The way she spoke with such sorrow, how she understood what he needed and the way she said his name, she only wanted to help.

"What do I have to do?" he sat down next to her.

"Simply hold my hand."

She put her hand out, palm up, and held it between them. Slowly, but surely, Fenris gingerly put his hand in hers, expecting the painful sensation that usually came with contact with other people, but there was a warm tingling sensation instead.

"Now you may feel slightly dizzy after I dig around a bit, I have to find a memory that I can use. What is the earliest memory you can recall?" She caught his eyes with her own. Her steady gaze was the only thing keeping Fenris calm; he realised, and refused to look away for fear of something beyond his control.

"The earliest memory I have is receiving these markings, anything before that is lost to me."

"Then we'll start there and work our way backwards."

Mel closed her eyes and Fenris watched as the world around him fell away, only to be replaced by a small room with one wooden door. Lamp light flickered on either side of the door and the walls were shadowed in darkness. Mel still held his hand and they were facing the door.

He looked at her and she looked back at him, her emerald eyes glowed in the darkness, along with his lyrium tattoos, they pulsed with his heartbeat, sending eerie blue shadows on the walls.

"Where are we?" His voice was oddly loud in such a small room.

Mel walked forwards, gently pulling Fenris with her, opening the door in front of them.

"Welcome to you memories Fenris."


	4. Chapter 4

Hello all! i'm sort of overdue but here it is. Hope you all enjoy and that Fenris isn't too bad, I want him to have a sweet goey centre with a hard shell of bitterness and resentment. If this doesn't quite work, please let me know.

* * *

><p>"Is that-?"<p>

"Yes, your sister, Varania." Mel answered Fenris' question as he asked it.

"I have a sister?" Fenris was slightly disbelieving.

Mel nodded, walking forward, pulling a nervous Fenris behind her. They stopped near a red haired elf, kneeling by a pool. They were in a courtyard of sorts; the surrounding area was grassy and well kept, with trees lining the inside of the stone wall that enclosed the space.

"Can she see us?" Fenris asked, still staring at his sister.

"No, these are merely your memories, a fixed set of images and we see them how you remember them." Mel replied; she was looking around for the Fenris in this memory.

"_Varania, what are you doing out here?" _The voice was very familiar, both Mel and Fenris turned around to see a slightly younger Fenris walking towards them. He was dressed in the ragged clothes of a slave, the same as his sister, but what struck both of them was the lack of lyrium markings; his skin was bare, unblemished and unmarked.

Mel felt Fenris' hand tighten in her own, tension and shock in seeing a past he doesn't remember.

"_You promised you'd play with me Leto."_ Varania replied, she stood up and walked to her brother, holding out a flower that she had picked from the ground.

The current Fenris turned to Mel, "What did she call me?" he asked, shocked.

"Leto, obviously that was your name. But when did it change?" Mel pondered this while the scene in front of them continued.

"_Mother was busy, so I had to help her. You know you shouldn't be out here, our master might catch you and then you'd be in trouble." _Leto said

Varania frowned, _"Well can you play now?"_

"_Come inside, little sister, we'll play tomorrow."_ Leto held Varania's hand as they walked inside.

The memory faded and they were back in the small room once more.

Fenris let go of Mel's hand and the small room faded as well, they were back in Denarius' mansion and the fire crackling was the only sound, save for Fenris' heavy breathing.

"What just happened?" Fenris asked once his breathing had slowed.

Mel didn't say anything, instead she got up and went to his cupboard and searched in it before coming back and sliding a blanket around Fenris' shoulders. He hadn't realised he was shivering violently; he nodded a silent thanks and stared into the fire.

But the shivering didn't stop, so he moved closer to the fire to try and get warm, but that didn't work either. Mel noticed this and realised what was happening, Fenris was suffering from his first experience of his memories, but he was suffering more than most because this was his first time seeing his own memories and the shock could kill him.

Mel had to act quickly, or he would die.

"Fenris?" she shook him gently on the shoulder and he turned to her and I took all her will not to flinch. In a matter of minutes, Fenris had gone from scared and tense to cold and clammy, like he had been out in the cold too long.

"I don't feel so well." He said; his voice was quiet, too quiet.

"Fenris, I need to help me, can you do that?" Mel asked sweetly, like she was talking to a small child.

Fenris nodded.

Mel worked quickly; she pulled the blanket off first and put it aside as she began working on removing his armour. He protested weakly at first but a few soothing words helped him relax. By the time she was removing his gauntlets, he was slumped against her shoulder, shivering and breathing heavily.

When she had removed all his armour, she wrapped him up in the blanket again and moved him to his bed, wrapped him up in all the blankets she could find and waited by his bed until he fell asleep.

Fenris woke up the next morning, feeling refreshed and warm and it took him a few moments to figure out how he ended up in his bed. He looked across to see Mel slumped on a chair, sleeping, with a washcloth in her hand. A bowl of water sat on his bedside table and his armour lay neatly on the nearby dresser and he remembered being unbearably cold after they had viewed one of his memories and that Mel had made him warm again.

He stood up and stretched, feeling better than he had ever before, he was calm, until a voice made him jump about five feet in the air.

"You're awake." Mel said, sliding one eye open to look at Fenris.

"It appears so, did last night really happen?" He asked.

Mel nodded and stood up, stretched and went to re-stoke the fire, "Do you remember all of it?" she called as he put on his armour.

He went and stood next to her, taking serenity in her presence.

"Yes, all of it, including you making me warm again. I was so cold, like I had been removed of all heat." He shivered at the memory.

Mel turned and smiled at him, "It's all right, it's happened to people before, but yours has been the worst case I've faced. It's only because it was the first time you have encountered your memories. Most people I have worked with only wanted to find something more in them, or I had been told to seek the truth."

Fenris nodded and hesitated a bit before he slipped his hand into Mel's, squeezed it slightly and released it again.

"Thank you. I would like to try it again, but not now, maybe not for a while, but definitely again."

Mel nodded slowly, "I will help you find yourself Fenris, maybe not today or next week, but one day, I will make you whole once more."


	5. Chapter 5

hey everyone, here is the next chapter, im on holidays at the moment so hopefully i can get the next few chapters done. I really need to know what people think as im at a loss on where to go next with this. I have the next chapter, but thats it, and its only half done. if people like this story and dont think its too crappy, please speak now or forever hold you piece, this may well be the second last chaper. So please review.

* * *

><p>Weeks went by and Fenris and Mel grew closer together, seeking solace in one another's company, finding peace in a world of pain.<p>

The mages and the Templar's were at each other's throats and it was taking its toll on Hawke, she was frequently at the Gallows, most the time taking Fenris with her, so Mel moved in with Fenris. It was Fenris' idea to do so and Mel was happy that he'd asked, so she said yes straight away.

They were frequently asked by their friends if there was anything going on between them, but both had refused to say anything on the matter, so Varric invented a back story of his own, saying that Fenris had swept Mel off her feet.

They both denied anything that Varric said, of course, but it got them wondering if what Varric said actually had a small seed of truth to it, don't all stories start that way?

They hadn't travelled back to Fenris' memories since they had tried the first time and Fenris was thinking about asking Mel to do it again, but he wasn't sure he was ready just yet, scared to have the same outcome that had happened before.

He voiced his idea to Mel one night, while they were drinking by the fire.

"I want to try again." He stated as though he was simply stating the weather outside.

Mel looked at him and smiled slightly, "Are you sure?"

He nodded and moved next to her, pulling off his gauntlets and hold a bare hand out to her.

Instead of holding it at first, she traced his lyrium lines with a finger, watching his reaction from the corner of her eye. At first he tensed up but he slowly relaxed and closed his eyes, taking in the light, smooth touch of her hands. She then slowly slid her hand into his and closed her eyes as well.

They were back in the small room with one door.

"You ready Fenris?" she asked.

He squeezed her hand in reply, taking a deep breath before they walked through the door before them.

"_Look what I can do!" _it was Varania, she was sitting on the ground in an old, dirty room and she was making her hands glow a blue light, healing magic.

"She's a mage!" Fenris' voice was dripping with venom and hate.

Mel squeezed his hand gently, "Don't judge too quickly, be patient."

"_Varania, what are you doing?"_ The Fenris of this memory walked into the room, still without the lyrium markings.

"_Look big brother, look what I can do." _Varania watched fascinated as the blue light began to dance around the room, three other pairs of eyes watched too.

"_Oh Varania," _Leto's voice was soft and caring._ "We need to get you out of here. You belong as an apprentice, not a slave."_

Varania looked up at her brother, with wide, innocent eyes.

"_But mother says that we're not allowed to leave." _She said.

"_I will find a way, I swear."_

And with that, the memory faded.

Fenris paced in front of the fire, just after recovering from another short, but painful, cold attack.

"It doesn't make sense, I hate mages, why would I help one?" he spat.

Mel smiled, "Don't let Anders hear you say that, or he'll rope you into his cause in ten seconds flat."

Fenris turned to glare at her, but found he couldn't hold it against her for long, something in her personality had transformed him.

He sighed and sat next to her, looking deeply into the fire.

"You've changed me." He said.

Mel looked at him from the corner of her eye, "Is that good or bad?"

"Good, I think. I'm not so angry anymore, I feel calm and kind of tranquil when I'm around you. Thank you."

He took her hand in his and Mel smiled at the now familiar gesture.

"I was thinking about what Varric said about us." She voiced her thoughts aloud for Fenris.

He groaned loudly, "I swear that dwarf will go to the ends of the earth to find out about us."

Mel's smile broadened, "So there is an 'us'?" she teased.

Fenris blushed, "I didn't, I mean, if it's..." he shifted uncomfortably where he sat and Mel just laughed at how nervous he was.

She squeezed his hand, "Do you want there to be an 'us'?" she asked.

Fenris squeezed her hand back, "I want to try. It's just I've never let anyone too close, for fear of what might happen, to me and to them."

"I can handle myself, remember?"

He nodded, "Then I want to try and make 'us' work, I would really like that."

Mel slid closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.

"Then 'us' we have become."


End file.
